Welcome

Welcome to the home page of the ‘Building Audiences’ project taking place in Leicester, UK.

Observing the decline in cinema theaters such as Natraj, Apsaras and Colosseum in the Belgrave area of Leicester, motivated me to start this project to enthuse the community and reinvigorate their entertainment industry within this diverse multicultural city. With changes in technology and cinema viewing platforms, many communities for whom cinema going was at the heart of their cultural and social activity, have left the cinema theaters for a more domestic viewing. Hence, this project intends to engage with South Asian audiences and invite them back to socialize and unite through cinema going once again, and celebrate the cultural diversity of the city.

Project Aims:

Educate communities to new-wave Indian cinema

Build the cinema-going culture for South Asian communities (starting from the heart of the cultural quarter)

Help venues/theaters to build new South Asian audiences

Set Leicester and the South Asian community as a case study for building new audiences among diaspora

The project has been funded by: DMU Square Mile India, and DMU Local. The research is currently undertaken within the Cinema and Television History Research Centre (CATH), Leicester Media School, De Montfort University.